Category: Uncategorized

Looks like we need to play catch up. Things have been so busy. The date of push off keeps getting delayed as new opportunities to work on the boat occur. One of our biggest projects was installing the new Nova Lift. A Nova Lift literally lifts the outboard from its place on the side of the boat and assists in lowering it to the dinghy. It also helps in the reverse when bringing the outboard back on the boat. An added benefit is that it can help lift a man overboard and return them to safety. The video has been cut into 3 parts for YouTube.

For the last few weeks, we were unable to see our speed displayed. Craig checked all the wiring and assorted Raymarine codes and all were fine. That led us to believe that the problem was in the actual transducer and it needed to be cleaned. Who knew how nerve wracking it would be to open up a hole in the boat and have water surge through it in a geyser. We now know that feeling…but at least it was a controlled geyser. Now our knot meter is working and all is good. We videoed the cleaning, see below.

When we first moved aboard Over Yonder, we knew that the galley water supply had to be looked into. We had 2 different filtering systems. A large filter on the regular galley sink faucet and then a drinking water faucet with a smaller filter. While we were cleaning the fresh water tanks we disconnected the filters because apparently clorox can damage them. After the tank cleaning it was time to replace both filters. They had not been changed since 2013! The video above is of Craig trying to unclog the line and the faucet.

**Well, our list of things to fix on the boat continues to grow. For each one we check off, there seems to be 3 or 4 that replace it. Currently, we are having concerns with our holding tank. It does not appear to have the volume that it should. There is a chance that there is sludge in the bottom of it that cannot be removed except with lots of fresh water flushing. However, Sludge would be a good thing. It there is hardened deposits in the bottom of the tank, more drastic measures will have to be taken. Tomorrow we are going to try Tide and hot water through the waste removal ‘fill’ on the deck. Will let you know if it works.

**Our neighbors at the marina, Mike and Linda, are very nice and have given us lots of info about boat maintenance and sailing. They have been cruising for 13 years. Three years full time then 10 years on a land and sea rotation every six months. They are always ready to share their hard earned knowledge. Their stories are so interesting.

**We are still trying to complete the 50 hours of motoring to break in the new engine. Right now we have 36 hours so almost there. Below is video from a recent trip. We hope to get this motoring finished soon so that we can actually get all the sails on and really sail the boat. This very short video was shot on a pretty windy day on the St. John’s River.

Sitting here in the boat trapped by rain and wind. Since our last post, we have continued to complete projects and run off hours needed to break in our new engine. We did get to see our first ‘wild’ alligator since moving to Florida. It showed up at our marina one cloudy day and of course we had to make a short video of it. See below….

We visited our friends Rosa and Doug this weekend and went for a ride on their pontoon. It was fun going fast on the water. Our fastest speed on Over Yonder is around 7 knots. Visits with Rosa and Doug are our downtime from working on the boat.

One disappointment this week occurred when we discovered that we will not be able to take our air popcorn popper on our upcoming trip. It just draws too much power. We will just have to figure out a way to make healthier popcorn on the stove. We did try it, but it just tasted too oily. A recipe adjustment is needed. We do love our popcorn.

Hello Everyone, Things have been very busy since our first post. In early March we left Over Yonder in Jacksonville and drove to Pittsbugh to visit our son, then Kentucky to see Regina’s family and finally to Cincinnati to see our daughter. We dropped off one of our cars in Kentucky for safe keeping during our big adventure. Could not believe that it was snowing. We also visited one of Craig’s former high school teachers and his wife, Ken and Jeri.
We flew back to Destin, FL to clear out our storage unit there and then crossed to state to Jacksonville. At this time we have our ‘home’ items in one 5X10 storage unit and our ‘boat’ things in another one. We hope to have the boat storage unit emptied by the time we leave the marina to start our trip.
Over Yonder is so very messy. We move things during the day to the V-Berth to get them out of the way and then move the out so we can sleep. Slowly we are progressing in getting items organized. Our quarter berth is jam-packed with all of our project supplies. Many, many projects to complete before we leave out of Jacksonville.
Water Tanks……We have flushed both our water tanks numerous times with a clorox solution and just finished doing the fresh water flushes. Discovered that our forward tank holds 117 gallons and our midship tank holds 57 gallons. That is more that the Cabo Rico manufacturing information stated. We count ourselves that lucky that all the original purchase documents from the factory have survived for these last 30 years. We have all the diagrams and even the leather portfolio that the Cabo Rico factory supplied with each new boat.

Another great milestone this week was getting the galley clean and cooking our first real HOT meal on the boat. Nothing too fancy but we were happy.